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Rating: 
Summary: mediocre assessments.
Review: I don't feel right about having to give this only 3 stars, considering I would give ( and have given) the authors higher marks for their solo efforts. So why did I think this one was a middle-of-the-road-3-star quality? Well here's why:1. Good conversations, but little practical application. Yes Ideas are good and need to be discussed, but I have already heard most of the emergent vs. traditional debate elsewhere 2. Lacks diversity. It is amazing that the pomo people and emergent fellows are so monolithic. 4 out of 5 people are male, the same 4 out of 5 are protestants. One of the males happens to not be white. If the emerging church people, and people like Len Sweet are really going to value diversity, it would be nice if an emergent church book really promoted diversity. I doubt that, as profound as she is, Fredricia Matthews-Green represents all women, or that Erwin Mcmannus--as cool as he is--represents all minorities. I have nothing against WASPS but when WASPS talk about diversity and listening to the different voices in their culture, I would actually like some example of it. 3. The view of culture, from the entire panel, was not nuanced enough. They all treated culture like a monolithic entity. I firmly believe that capital C culture is dead; we exist in different cultures (i.e. African American Culture, Evangelical Culture, Indy Culture). While each author seemed careful in their treatment of what postmodernity is, not wanting to over simplfy it, they over simplify culture. 4. With the Exception of Michael Horton, and Fredricia, the authors did not really represent the views that they were supposed to. While they did, but they didn't. Crouch Mclaren, and McMannus were more alike than different in their approach to church. Their language polarized them from one another, but when you listen to what they actually are saying and what they think of each other's approach, it really isn't that diverse. 5. Brian Mclaren(whom I love) talks way too much. The man had to put his two cents on everything, and recap everyone. It didn't seem like a even handed presentation of 5 views with Mclaren giving the last word in every chapter. That being said, this book is insightful and it is intersting to see how these five people interact with one another and react to each minstry style. I like the book marginally more than I dislike it. It is worth reading, if you want different view points and you don't want to read five books. But that my friend is just lazy. ;)
Rating: 
Summary: Thought provoking journey
Review: I was really impressed with this book. For some reason, I have not really heard it talked about or seen it advertised very much. I ordered it not knowing much about it and have been truly impressed. The book is sort of a modern day reflection of the classic book Christ and Culture. The book looks at different ways of addressing the issues the emerging is facing:
1. preserving message, preserving methods
2. preserving message, evolving methods
3. evolving message, preserving methods
4. evolving message, evolving methods Definatly check this one out. The author's don't always agree on what postmodernism is or how we should treat it.
Rating: 
Summary: A Discussion on the Future of the Church
Review: If you are already tired of repetitive discussions of the church in a postmodern era, here's a new and fresh approach: five Christian thinkers write chapters containing their own take on the subject, with the text interrupted regularly by comments and concerns of the other contributors. (Imagine a lecturer regularly interrupted by good questions by the listeners.) Contributors are Andy Crouch, Michael Horton, Frederica Mathewes-Green, Brian McLaren, and Erwin McManus. They all love the church and give us plenty to think about in this provocative and interesting volume. Michael Duduit
Editor, Preaching Magazine
(www.preaching.com)
Rating:
Summary: Good Ideas, Bad Graphics
Review: Many valuable suggestions, thought-provoking discussion of howthe church can be what it really is, rather than following one-size fits all ideas. I'd rate it higher but for the graphic design, which makes much of it almost impossible to read. Light grey print on grey pages, and similar phenomena aren't good for reading in general, especially for those of us whose eyesight isn't good. Not only the church, but its books need to be diability-friendly.
Rating:
Summary: A Thought-Provoking and Engaging Dialogue
Review: This book is not your usual book discussing some topic or idea within Christianity where a single author puts forward a point or idea and the reader is left to interact only with that one point. This work asks five writers to discuss how Christianity can reach out to present culture in the West (modern, postmodern, ultramodern, hypermodern or what-have-you) and engage it. Each author comes from a very different perspective and thus offers different ideas and critiques of what should be done, what will work and what may not work.
What makes this book special, however, is that the other contributors have been allowed to insert comments into each essay. The author of the essay is them allowed a "final word" to address those comments. This creates a dialogue for the reader to see and engage with intellectually. Often, one of the other contributors offered a comment or criticism that I hadn't thought of that really helped me in my process of critically thinking through the issues at hand. I then got to see how the author of the essay responded. The book's very unique approach really allowed me to better work through the issues presented and I applaud the editor and contributors for having the courage, respect and humility to enter into the dialogue with those who don't agree with their perspectives. The result is a discussion that I found truly enriching.
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